Secret’s Song Jieun came back with her second solo album, Bobby Doll.In September 20th at Yes24 MUV Hall, Seoul, Song Jieun showcased her “Bobby Doll” performance and music video while wearing a sexy laced trench coat-style dress. The Korean spelling of “Bobby Doll” is the same as “Barbie Doll” in English, yet Jieun intentionally used “Bobby Doll” to assign a life to the plastic doll, Barbie.

Jieun started to prepare her solo album right after she finished the drama shooting of “Sweet Home Sweet Honey.” Although singing and acting have similarities in terms of “expressing” one’s feelings, Jieun confessed that she has been more used to the music field because she was still learning new things when it comes to acting. Yet many fans told her that her facial expression has improved after she started her acting career.

The album includes six tracks, including “I Wanna Fall in Love” composed by Iconic Sounds’ Kim Taesung, AOMG’s Cha Cha Malone, and Andrew Choi, “Bobby Doll” the title song, “Off the Record” composed and written by Shim Eunji whom Jieun always wished to work with, “Oasis” that sings about the fox from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel Le Petit Prince, and “It’s Okay” with a hopeful message.

Jieun explained that “Bobby Doll” is an acoustic dance song that suggests a dark fantasy of a marionette instead of a lovely Barbie doll that we know. Jieun and her dancers had a hard time choreographing with the mid-tempo acoustic song, but they soon earned an idea from Um Junghwa’s mid-tempo song “Invitation” in which Um Junghwa danced with a fan. Jieun named the dance “shading dance” because the way she moved the fan looked like a girl doing a shading makeup.

This was the second time Jieun worked with Zanybros’ director Lim Sukjin for her music video. She said it was easy for her to act because the script was described so much in detail that she exactly knew where her facial expressions will be used. Also she mentioned that as she got older she gained more confidence in her work: “Now I’m not afraid of getting old. I look forward to tomorrow than today, and look forward more to a year later, so I can’t wait to become 30 and see how I will be like. Two years ago, I was busy to resolve immediate issues, but now I gained an insight of looking at a distant future. Before then, I was swayed a lot by what other people told me. People told me things like ‘this is right for you,’ then I would be swayed by those comments. Eventually I lost myself and suffered from low self-esteem. But then I realized that I should know better about myself. After that, I’ve learned how to distinguish things that I could do and became certain about what I want to do.”

Jieun emphasized that her ultimate goal as a singer is to give courage and hope to her listeners. Although the title song “Bobby Doll” is more focused on the promotion, she stressed that other songs are aimed at comforting and encouraging her listeners. She also confessed that she tries to control her mind not to think about getting the first place at music programs. She explained, “Instead of focusing on the music ranks, now I can fully appreciate the fact that there is someone who listens to my album.” Rather than relying on current musical trend, Jieun challenged to show a variety of musical styles in her album by changing her vocal styles and recording diverse music genres. She also thanked Secret members for giving advice on her album.

Although this time Song Jieun returned as a singer, she also made a resolution as a multitalented idol who could perform as a singer, actor, MC, and a radio DJ. Jieun’s effort put into Bobby Doll and her diverse activities tell us that it will be worthwhile to anticipate what will come up next in her career.